I was also going to suggest talking to your LHBS about their ingredients until I saw this. I think you've found your culprit! PBW the crap out of everything and brew something you don't mind losing next. I bet that'll get you back on track.

The first batch that tasted bad, is it bottled/kegged and fully conditioned? I have never had an IPA hydrometer sample taste good, it could be that the beer is still green. My palate never interprets the flavor as "dirty" as much as astringently bitter, that's just me though. And it always ages out for me in about three weeks.

My guess is dealing with the fantastic quantity of hops gave you the pungent peaty character in the hydro sample and it will get good with time. This is particularly true if there is still yeast in suspension as the hop oils in highly hoped beers tend to stick to the yeast. I love double jack but living on the East Coast doubt I have ever had a super fresh bottle. I think the beer is designed mellow in the bottle a bit before drinking. The commercial product is always super clear too so again if there was any cloudiness in your hydro sample the punch of the hops may be much more pronounced than it will be after the beer drops bright.

Have you brewed other super highly hopped beers? How does the flavor of the hydro sample of those compare to this?

I am curious about how you managed that quantity of hop trub. Did it go through to the fermenter or filtered out?

You might try chewing a few of the grains from the bin at the LHBS; some bright person may have poured a peated malt into the wrong bin.

I usually use 1 to 2 tsp of Burton Salts. I am not sure how much Calcium Chloride or Calcium Sulfate that would equate too. Do you always use the same water treatment? Your 3 years of brewing would indicate you have your procedures down. But I figure it is worth asking.

I would give the beer three or 4 weeks and see if that clears up the off taste. It could be that six days is just not long enough on the primary. I leave most beers 3 to 5 weeks on the primary.

I was also going to suggest talking to your LHBS about their ingredients until I saw this. I think you've found your culprit! PBW the crap out of everything and brew something you don't mind losing next. I bet that'll get you back on track.

TOTALLY!

Nothing better to give you that "peaty" flavor than some charred wort from your heating element. (mmmm, burnt sugar is soo tasty)

Nothing better to give you that "peaty" flavor than some charred wort from your heating element. (mmmm, burnt sugar is soo tasty)

Mmmmmm Caramel...

We use warm water and BPW or Arm and Hammer Super Wash Soda to clean our RIMS system. We run it through for the length of the boil. After rinsing a couple of times we pull out the element and it usually has a little remaining "caramel" on it but it wipes right off. We then disconnect all our down hill connections and let the water totally drain out. Open the pump and let it drain too as it's at the lowest spot. We started doing this after funky smells in the water when filling the mash tun.

Since doing this we have had no more funk. We pre heat the mash tun now and circulate the water through the system and smell it before we drain it and then start the mash. Thought it might be a good idea in case something crawled into a line! No more funk beer for us!

The first batch that tasted bad, is it bottled/kegged and fully conditioned? I have never had an IPA hydrometer sample taste good, it could be that the beer is still green. My palate never interprets the flavor as "dirty" as much as astringently bitter, that's just me though. And it always ages out for me in about three weeks.

The sample was after 1 week and directly from the secondary. I always try my hydrometer samples from IPA and they usually taste fine. I don't think this is a flavor that is going to fade since it is completely overwhelming. I just a good swig from the first batch and nearly vomitted. It was absolutely terrible. I won't dump this second batch but if the taste doesn't subside I am not going to waste the dry hops.

My guess is dealing with the fantastic quantity of hops gave you the pungent peaty character in the hydro sample and it will get good with time. This is particularly true if there is still yeast in suspension as the hop oils in highly hoped beers tend to stick to the yeast. I love double jack but living on the East Coast doubt I have ever had a super fresh bottle. I think the beer is designed mellow in the bottle a bit before drinking. The commercial product is always super clear too so again if there was any cloudiness in your hydro sample the punch of the hops may be much more pronounced than it will be after the beer drops bright.

Have you brewed other super highly hopped beers? How does the flavor of the hydro sample of those compare to this?

I am curious about how you managed that quantity of hop trub. Did it go through to the fermenter or filtered out?

I've brewed with more hops than this with no problems. I am careful to purge the carboy after fermentation with CO2 to avoid oxidation. I use a muslin bag for the hops but there definitely a large amount of trub in the carboy. One way I avoid this is to use hop extract for any bittering hop. I picked this up from the Bertus blog.

For the next batch I am going to do the following.
1. By R/O water from a different source. I'm going to avoid the Glacier style vendors outside of grocery stores and try to find some gallon jugs.
2. I'm going to clean the hell out of my entire system, including the heating element. That baby is going to shine before my next attempt.
3. I'm going to test the starch conversion over the course of the mash and I don't plan on stopping until it is complete.

I'll be damned if I don't have a keg of Double Jack in my fridge within a month! Thanks for the help everyone.

I'll bet your water supply has picked up some chloromines somehow. You can eliminate or confirm that by buying water for your next batch. Make sure it is either RO water or thoroughly charcoal filtered. I've found that the drinking water sold out of the water vending machines at our supermarket is excellent and only $1.50 for 5 gal.

I had the same issue last spring and ended up dumping 6 batches. Water supplies can change over time.